The subject matter disclosed herein relates to non-destructive testing (NDT) systems, and particularly to systems and methods for the remote control of NDT systems.
Certain equipment and facilities, such as power generation equipment and facilities, oil and gas equipment and facilities, aircraft equipment and facilities, manufacturing equipment and facilities, and the like, include a plurality of interrelated systems, and processes. For example, power generation plants may include turbine systems and processes for operating and maintaining the turbine systems. Likewise, oil and gas operations may include carbonaceous fuel retrieval systems and processing equipment interconnected via pipelines. Similarly, aircraft systems may include airplanes and maintenance hangars useful in maintaining airworthiness and providing for maintenance support. During equipment operations, the equipment may degrade, encounter undesired conditions such as corrosion, wear and tear, and so on, potentially affecting overall equipment effectiveness. Certain inspection techniques, such as non-destructive inspection techniques or non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, may be used to detect undesired equipment conditions.
In a conventional NDT system, data may be shared with other NDT operators or personnel using portable memory devices, paper, of through the telephone. As such, the amount of time to share data between NDT personnel may depend largely on the speed at which the physical portable memory device is physically dispatched to its target. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to improve the data sharing capabilities of the NDT system, for example, to more efficiently test and inspect a variety of systems and equipment.